Friday Favorites

We did it! We made it through another week! This week started off slow because I was still recovering from SNAP! So... waking up today and knowing it was Friday, I feel like I almost heard angels singing. That being said, I wanted to share some of my favorite things I've found around the web this week!

I've been on the hunt for a new phone case for awhile now and I think the problem is, there are just TOO MANY OPTIONS. Do I want flowers, or cacti, or dachshunds, or a solid color, or gold or glitter... I DON'T KNOW. I finally decided less is best and went with this Marble iPhone Case and I LOVE IT. It's simple and elegant and makes me feel like a grown up.

(it's also available in this ADORABLE banana leaf print)

While traveling to Utah, I had some major luggage envy traveling through the airport. While I like the Kathy Van Zeeland luggage set that I bought several years ago (from TJMaxx of course because everyone knows I'm a bargain shopper), it doesn't have the awesome spinner wheels that all the luggage comes with now. One thing I do love about my current luggage is that I can instantly spot it because it is so colorful (some might say loud, but I'm going to go with colorful). So I know I want my next set of luggage to be easy to spot AND have spinner wheels. I found this mint luggage and I'm pretty much in love.

Isn't it just so pretty?? It's mint! It has spinner wheels! It. Is. EVERYTHING. My wallet is telling me no, so I'm not goign to buy it just yet but you better believe those beauties are sitting in my Amazon cart ready and waiting for my next vacay.

This Bachelorette fiesta.

Every. Single.Detail. is to die for. The mini patron bottles, the flower crowns, the gorgeous floral arrangements, and did you see... they were drinking Malibu with pineapple juice! A Shea classic!

This DIY Travel Map

Now, I'm not jet setting travel junkie so I wouldn't have too many pins. But I still love this idea!

This adorable Nate Burkus Marble Canister

It's no surprise that I have all the heart eyes for all things marble, then you throw in some gold and I'm in heaven. 

And that rounds out my five favorite things for this week. Be sure to check back next week because I'll be sharing a fun Mother's Day DIY! 

Thrifty Thursday // Home Edition

A couple of weeks ago I did a "Thrifty Thursday" post where I compared some higher end fashion items with some thrifty ones. I enjoyed doing it so much, that today I decided to do a home edition!

Today I compared similar items from West Elm (which I love but can't afford) and Wayfair (a more budget savvy option). I've lived in the same house now for almost seven years (how is that even possible, I don't know). I originally moved in with my bestie and now live there with my husband. I haven't done too much decor-wise in those seven years so I've been itching to do some updates. While perusing the internet for ideas, I was able to find some great affordable options!

Plant Stand

Splurge- $115// Save- $48.99

Hairpin Coffee Table

  Splurge $419  // Save $85.99

Rug

Splurge- $899 // Save- $326.99

Light

Splurge- $299 // Save- $164.99

Mirror

Splurge- $249 // Save- $133.99

I've been having a lot of fun with these Thrifty Thursdays, I hope you've been enjoying them. Do you have any ideas for what the next one should be?

Meet the Maker: Erin Casement of Design Punch

We're back with another new "Meet the Maker Monday"! I'm super excited to be introducing you to Erin Casement today! I first met Erin when she began dating her now husband Chris, who I knew from what I like to refer to as "the college years". Erin is the perfect mix of wit, class and beauty. She has since helped me create my wedding invitations, the invitations for Danica's baby shower as well as the invitations for my 30th and 31st birthdays! She's a wiz at what she does and I'm honored to introduce you to her. 

Tell me a little bit about yourself...

Hi I'm Erin, I'm originally from Kansas City, MO but now call Southern California "home". I'm a digital marketing executive by day, an Etsy shop owner by night and occasionally moonlight as a commercial actress. I specialize in making shirts, invitations, jokes and spicy tacos. Pleased to "meet" you! 

What is it that you make and how did you get started?

My Etsy shop, Design Punch, sells custom Bridesmaid/Bridal Party shirts, mugs and printable wedding/baby shower/bachelorette party invitations. I opened my shop after teaching myself Illustrator and Photoshop, thinking I might be able to make a little extra money selling printable 8x10 quotes/posters. It's transformed over the past 3 years into a full-blown side hustle specializing in wedding designs!

Loves: Modern design, rainy days, jumpsuits, puns, soft shirts, AFV and pizza.

Hates: Hmmmm... bullies?

Guilty Pleasures: Eating all the cake.

Cocktail of Choice: Vodka/soda with all the citrus. 

What advice to you have for fellow makers?

Study the competition and find your niche in the marketplace. Focus on customer service, the longer people wait for you to respond the more likely it is you'll lose a sale! Focus on SEO and keywords for your listings. Finally, great photography is a MUST and can help you get featured. 

Thank you for tuning in another week of my "Meet the Maker" series! 

Be sure to check out Erin's amazing work on Etsy. 

Next week, I'm going to be featuring Emmaflhair and you won't want to miss it!

Meet the Maker: Paige Poppe

Happy Monday! It's time for another installment in the "Meet the Maker" series! I am SO excited about today's feature. I seriously squealed when she agreed to be a part of this series. I'm not entirely sure how I ended up down the rabbit hole of the internet and found Paige but I think it was when I was scouring the web for an artist that specializes in desert scenes. As you may or may not know, I was married in the Coachella Valley Desert in beautiful Palm Springs, so the desert has a special place in my heart. It was then that I found her AMAZING desert inspired art and fell in love! I have yet to actually buy one of Paige's pieces but that is only because it's IMPOSSIBLE to choose a favorite! For real though, go look at her stuff and I dare you to find something that isn't incredible... go ahead... I'll wait. For real though, I have almost bought her yoga mat dozens of times and I DON'T EVEN DO YOGA. 

Tell me a little bit about yourself...

I am an artist, creating paintings + designing products every day in Scottsdale, Arizona! I loves to bring a hand painted, analog touch to anything I create. Surrounded by the beautiful Sonoran desert, I am most known for my paintings of desert botanicals and landscapes. My painting and design work extends to my own product line (think greeting cards, pins, and mugs) wedding stationery design, branding and packaging for small businesses, and large scale painting commissions for clients. 

What is it that you make and how did you get started?

I have been working under my own name as an artist since April of 2015, but started creating original work for clients in 2012. Back then I was pursuing my Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and my work was primarily skateboard art. I would paint skate decks for clients, as well as my own designs. At the time I was primarily sharing my work on my blog + selling on Etsy, but eventually moved to my own websites so I could truly build my brand.

Loves: Sunshine, bicycling, scrapbooking, creating videos, pickles, key lime pie and painting of course! 

Hates: Negativity, tomatoes, blue cheese, and slow Internet, ha!

Guilty Pleasures: Blasting Ariana Grande and Britney Spears...except I'm not too guilty of that. Their music pumps me up during a long work day!  

Cocktail of Choice: I love specialty Moscow Mule flavors! I just had a blood orange one at a favorite restaurant of mine and it was delicious. 

What advice to you have for fellow makers?

Be prepared to work hard, super hard, at your craft and your dream every day, for years. Consistenly creating and working towards my boals on a daily basis for over 5 years is how I got where I am today. 

Thank you for tuning in to another week of the "Meet the Maker" series! 

I can't thank Paige enough for agreeing to be a part of it. I'm still a little beside myself that she agreed, but I'm SO glad that she did! 

Be sure to check out her Website // Shop // Instagram // Blog

Next week, I'm going to be featuring Erin Casement of Design Punch and you won't want to miss it!

Thrifty Thursday

It's no secret that I love a bargain. Clearance racks and coupon codes are my jam. My mom hates clearance racks because she says it takes so much work to find anything worth getting, but to me, that's half the fun! A bargain is even more rewarding when it feels earned. With stores like Nordstrom Rack, Marshall's, HomeGoods and T.J.Maxx more popular than ever, it seems I'm not alone in my bargain hunting. With that in mind, I decided to try out a new "Thrifty Thursday" series where I share some of my thrifty finds.

Today I simply compared items from Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack, you'd be surprised how similar the items are, yet how different their price tags are!

 Nordstrom Splurge- $185.00 // Nordstrom Rack Save- $14.97

 Nordstrom Splurge- $595.00 // Nordstrom Rack Save- $119.97

Nordstrom Splurge- $110.00// Nordstrom Rack Save- $7.49

Nordstom Splurge- $59.00// Nordstrom Rack Save- $24.95

See! It can be easy to be a bargain shopper, you just have to know where to look!

Be sure to check back next week for another "Thrifty Thursday"!

Hoop! There it is!

Lately, I've been a bit obsessed with embroidery. After the Community Embroidery Night I went to a month or so ago, I've been using any excuse to grab a hoop and embroider! The little cacti we made that night got me inspired.

With the basics under my belt I was comfortable trying something of my own. Using this tutorial from Studio DIY, I decided to give my name a try.

It turned out SO much better than I expected but I obviously used too busy of a pattern unfortunately so you can't really see it... lesson learned.

My bestie recently had her second baby and moved her oldest from the "nursery" into her "big girl room" and I asked if maybe she wanted me to embroider anything for her new room. She had the great idea to have me try to embroidery their pups! If you didn't know, I incorporated their pups into Danica's baby shower AND got her the CUTEST custom mobile with the pups for the nursery so I LOVED the idea of incorporating them. I still had the photos that I used for their silhouettes for the baby shower so, using those pics, and once again the Studio DIY technique, I created two custom pieces that I'm absolutely obsessed with.

The resemblance is uncanny!

And I think it's safe to say Danica loves them to, because she hung them the very next day!

The more I embroider, the more confident I get. I can't wait to dream up my next project!

Meet the Maker: ME!

Happy Monday! I'm SO excited to be starting this new "Meet the Maker" series! Even though I grappled with it for a bit, I figured the best place to start was with yours truly! Over the course of this blog I have shared plenty about myself but I figured why not let everyone formally "meet" me!

Tell me a little bit about yourself...

Hi Friends!

I'm Shea and I am the creative redhead behind Not So Cli-Shéa. I'm married and live in sunny Southern California with my husband and two piebald dachshunds. I enjoy craft beer, country music and the occasional necessary gangster rap. My hair can usually be found in a bun.  

What is it that you make and how did you get started?

I make just about everything but lately my real passion has been party goods, things like banners, photo props, cake and cupcake toppers. I'm a hostess by nature (I like to think I got that from my grandmother) so I love hosting parties. Seriously, I'll use any excuse to throw a party, sometimes I even make them up (does ChristmAugust ring a bell?). I'm not exactly sure how I got started making but it has been something I have been doing as long as I can remember. The craft store has always been my home away from home. I vividly remember the first time I used a sewing machine. I was probably 6 and my babysitter wanted to teach me how to make a scrunchie (I was a child of the 90's). Once I knew how, I was hooked. I got my mom to register me for a class through the city and started sewing as much as I could. Even though I don't sew as much these days, I still dust off my sewing machine around Christmas each year to have a stocking making party (told you I'll use any excuse to throw a party) where I teach all my girlfriends how to make stockings. Aside from that sewing class through the city, I am pretty much self taught in all things crafty, with the exception of the occasional YouTube video.

Loves: Slurpees, sleeping in, french fries, a good cheeseburger (you know the kind, from those diner type places), pickles (but only halves or spears, I don't like the little slices they put on burgers), cereal, thrift stores, flea markets, the smell of books, poppies, cheese, unusual pet friendships and dogs... like ALL the dogs, I want them all... is that too much to ask?

Hates: Being hot, seriously though.... I HATE being hot, blow drying my hair, rude people, returning the cart at the grocery store (I already am not a fan of going to the grocery store and having to return the cart is like the straw that broke the camels back for me... don't worry though, I always return it, I'm not one of those people).

Guilty Pleasures: I don't feel that guilty about it, but probably the tv show Friends. I watch it constantly. Yes I've seen every single episode multiple times and no, I don't plan to stop any time soon. The "Disney station" on Pandora, also don't feel too guilty about this one haha. 

Cocktail of Choice: Oh man that's a hard one. I'm a firm believer that your beverage depends on the occasion/environment. Like while on a beach vacation, you should definitely have a lava flow in your hand. When you're at a baseball game you should have a nice cold beer. And when celebrating, champagne is always the answer. I'm also always a sucker for a "signature cocktail". Lately I've been enjoying lots of new craft beers, but if I HAD to choose just one drink, I'm embarrassed to say, my go-to is a Captain and Diet Coke. 

What advice to you have for fellow makers?

My advice would probably just be, do what makes you happy. I know this sounds so cliche, but I think sometimes people get so focused on making money or doing what they think other people would want that they loose themselves or they aren't even happy making what they're making. It took me awhile to make a decent amount of money being a maker, and I'm still far from it being enough to pay my bills, but I still love doing it. When I hear that cha-ching on my Etsy app, my little maker heart flutters, and even moreso when I see that it's a custom order! I genuinely love what I do and I think that's the most important part of being a maker.  

Thank you for tuning in to week one of my "Meet the Maker" series! 

Be sure to check me out on  Facebook // Instagram // Etsy

Next week, I'm going to be featuring Paige Poppe and you won't want to miss it!

Bestie Basket with Cricut!

Happy Tuesday! I'm so excited that it's finally spring! We have had an unusually wet winter here in Southern California so it has been nice having our sunshine back, especially in the evenings. Sam and I have been enjoying sitting in the yard with the dogs after a long day at work and just enjoying the lovely weather. Speaking of spring, I'm SO excited about today's post!

Growing up there was very little more exciting than receiving my Christmas stocking and my Easter basket. My grandma had such a special way of filling them with such fun little trinkets and goodies. It's been years, dare I say decades since I have received an Easter basket, but just because I'm slightly older than the average Easter basket receiver, doesn't mean I wouldn't like to get one! That is when I came up with the idea of a Bestie Basket!

I love any excuse to celebrate the ladies in my life and I don't think I'm alone in this, so I've created a shareable Cricut project on Cricut's Design Space so that you can create a Bestie Basket of your own!

I stopped at my local Target for my basket and all of the goodies I wanted to include.

I found the basket in everyone's weakness, the Target Dollar Spot for $3.

I also included:

-Hubba Bubba Bubble Tape (mostly because I loved the soft pink color, but also because it reminded me of my childhood)

-Altoids (also kind of for their color, not gunna lie)

-Sofia Champagne Can (because champagne makes everything better)

-Burt's Bee's Chapstick (this was something I was already planning on getting and then I saw it in this PERFECT shade of pink and was so happy!)

-Face Masks (my bestie is a lover of face masks, so these were a must)

Nail Polish (also in the perfect hue.) 

From there I created my labels using fonts, images and patterns from Cricut Access. 

Using sticker paper and my Cricut Explore Air 2, I was able to create a very adorable, cohesive look. 

 (For the nail polish tag and the basket tag, I used cardstock instead of sticker paper. In the file, I put both of those tags on the right hand side, to make them easy to tell the difference. I simply "hid" the tags I didn't want when cutting the ones I did. Let me know if you have any question about this, I'd be more than happy to do a video on it.)

 I'm SO happy with how it turned out and all the colors ended up so cute together! I ended up adding an extra tassel of my own to the basket, it had a light blue and a turquoise one but it needed a pink one. I think it ready tied it all together, what do you think?

I hope my bestie loves her basket as much as I do! If you make a basket of your own I'd LOVE to see it!

Click HERE to get the labels in Cricut Design Space.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. 

 The opinions and text are all mine.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, meaning that I receive a small commission for items purchased through my blog, at no cost to you. All items advertised are items that I actually use and all opinions are 100% my own.

Meet the Maker Monday

Happy Monday! I can't believe it's April already! But then again, I feel like I say that with every new month!

Laying in bed the other night I was thinking of ideas for new content for this blog of mine and I came up with one that I'm really excited about! I wanted a way to showcase some fellow makers and that is when the idea for "Meet the Maker Monday" was born!

Each week I'm going to feature a new maker, and every maker will be hand selected by yours truly. I already have several fierce females on board and can't wait for you to meet them! Be sure to check back next Monday to meet the first maker!